Dilution of liquid concentrates



Oct. 16, 1951 c. s. DAILEY DILUTION OF LIQUID CONCENTRATES Filed Aug. 6, 1946 INVENTOR. 0 7/45? Patented Oct. 16,1951

DILUTION OF LIQUID CONCENTRATES Carl S. Dailey, Seattle, Wash., assignor to Gascade Sprayer Company, Seattle, Wash., a corporation of Washington Application August 6, 1946, Serial No. 688,625

Claims.

This invention relates to spraying machines,

and particularly that character of spraying machine in which a supply of a water-soluble liquid chemical is carried in a compressible sack or other functionally equivalent storage receptacle and delivered in metered quantities and under the pressure influence of a pressure source of water supply into a confined stream of water fiowing from said source. This general type of sprayer is illustrated and described in three Letters Patent of the United States, one issued April 4, 1939 and numbered 2,153,240, and the other two issued April 30, 1940 and numbered 2,199,110 and 2,199,151. v

One important object of the present invention is to provide a machine so devised as to give visual indication to the operator at such time as the chemical receptacle becomes emptied of its contents.

It is a further and important object to devise a light-weight and especially compact machine which may be applied by one end to a water hose and which accommodates the reception, upon the other end, of a conventional spra nozzle, the

water being delivered by the hose into the machine and being discharged, with admixed chemical, from the nozzle, the machine being held in the hand and operated with an ease equal to that of an ordinary hosing operation.

It is a further object still to engineer a sprayer comprised simply of a can, preferably of pint size, to serve as the machines pressure tank and containing a sack of a water-soluble liquid concentrate, the can having a fixed head through which both water and chemical are ejected and in which the respective flow ducts are of fixed flow capacity such that no adjustment of any nature whatsoever is required in order that the mixture of water and concentrate delivered through the head will remain uniform and exact- 1y conform to a predetermined strength.

As a further object still, the invention aims to provide a sprayer of a non-refillable character, and hence giving a positive assurance to the user that the chemical contained within the sack has not been tampered with and conforms to the standards laid down by the manufacturer.

Other objects and advantages, with the foregoing, will appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawing:

' Figure 1 is a view in side elevation illustrating a sprayer produced in accordance with the now preferred embodiment of the invention, and indicating the manner of its usage.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the sprayer with parts in elevation and using a scale enlarged from that of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view taken to a scale enlarged from that of Fig. 2 and showing the machines metering head detached from the can and from the concentrate-carrying sack, the view being fragmentary to the extent that I have shown only the upper end of the tube which delivers the concentrate to the chemical-feed duct.

Figs. 4 and 5 are horizontal sectional views on lines 44 and 5-5, respectively, of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view on the substantial median line of the metering head, the scale employed being approximately the same as that of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation to illustrate a modified form of cap which is applicable to the invention where it is unimportant that a fine spray be delivered, this modified-cap obviatin need for the employment of a separate nozzle.

Indicated generally by the numeral I0 is a can, preferably of metal by reason of the inexpensive nature of the latter, but which could as well be composed of glass, plastic, or the like. As illustrated, the metal can is comprised of a body shell I I having a pressure-tight connection by suitable seams l2 and 13 with top and bottom end walls [4 and I5, respectively. Each of these top and bottom walls presents a center opening, and there is soldered or otherwise fixedly applied to the bottom wall [5 to register with the opening It of the latter a fitting ll internally threaded to accommodate the male threads of a hose coupling.

Fitting within the top-wall opening and, as with the fitting ll, made a fixed part of the can is a metering head, and this head has a nipple 20 and a neck 2! extending in an axial direction from opposite Sides of a centrally placed flange 22. The nipple is adapted to project outwardly beyond the top wall and is externall threaded whereby it may accommodate the attachment of a cap 23, hereinafter described.

The metering head is bored longitudinally to provide a pair of ducts, and one of these ducts, which I, denote 24 and refer to hereinafter as the chemical duct, is of fairly large diameter throughout the greater part of its length but is reduced as it approaches the upper end limit,

terminating in a minute orifice (see Fig. 6).

Functional to this orifice is a check-valve 25 composed preferably, of a rubber flap cemented along its back edge to the face of the nipple. This valve-forming flap is desirably given color contrast in relation to the nipple. At the originating end of the duct 24, connection is had with a fixed pipe 26 which lies more or less axial to the can and runs. thegreater part oftthe.latters 1ength, and communication with the interior of.this'.pipe is provided by a severalty of wall openings 21 spaced at intervals of the length. The other of the two ducts, denoted 28, and which I will refer to hereinafter as the water duct, is'given a large diameter throughout its length, and this;water; duct finds its origination in a recess 29 notched into the side of the neck 2| immediately belowthe flange 22. The size of thechemical-discharge orifice in its relation to the water-discharge port is fixed, and will depend upon the particular ratio of water to chemical for which each sprayer is designed.-

Between the recess 29 and the lower limitof the neck is a peripheral groove 30, and cemented or otherwise held-tight by its upper end within this groove is a non-porous flexible sack, 3l enclosing the pipe 26 and arranged to contain the chemical which is to be sprayed.

Reverting to the cap 23, the same is composed of a clear plastic or other transparent material of a nature unaffected by the chemical which is to be supplied. This cap has a discharge opening in its end wall, and beyond the threads which accommodate the nipple is formed to present a relatively deep recess partitioned by a false ceiling 34 into an upper compartment 32 and a lower compartment 33. This false ceiling finds a press fit within the cap and is drilled diagonally to form a flow duct 35 connecting the two compartments. The diagonal run of the duct serves to impart a spinning action to the stream asthe.

latter. is delivered under pressure through the duct into the upper chamber 32, and'this spinning action is advantageous as a means ofmixing the chemical and water. However, where a spray nozzle is applied to thecap, and-I show external threads for this purpose, the spinning actiondsunnecessary inasmuch as a complete and uniform mixing action as between the chemical and the water inherently takes place inthe course of the pressure streams confined travel through the nozzle. A spray nozzle ofthetype customarily used upon a garden hoseis entirely suitable for mypurpose, and I denote such a nozzle by the numeral 36.

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated a modified cap 3! in which-the mixture of water and; chemical is delivered through an attached fiexible tube 38, and there is made functional to thistube for opening and closing the same at will a knurledheaded screw 39, the head of the screw acting against a washer 40 and the washer in turn bearing upon the tube. Where using a cap of this type, a nozzle such as I have illustratedin Figs; 1 and 2 would be dispensed with. It will be self evident that a nozzle could be made inwhich the socket-forming base would be transparent and become a functional counterpart of the transparent cap 23, in which event a transparentcap as a separate part would be unnecessary.

In producing my sprayer, the chemical which; is to be sprayed, and be it fBlack Leaf 40, watersoluble DDT, Creosole, Hypochloritesg or other water-soluble material, is sealed by the manufacturer within the can-oarried;-sack, and as one means of closing the chemical duct tq effectuate such sealing a rubber cork (not shown) is placed upon the flap 25 and caused to be compressed by the act of screwing the cap 23 onto the nipple, the compression pressure of the 0011: holding the flap closed. A surface seal such as is found on spirituous liquors is by preference thereupon applied to the cap, and it is also desirable that a plug (not* shown) be. applied to the fitting I1 inorder that no foreign matter will enter the interior of the can. When the sprayer is to be used, this surface seal is broken, the cap unscrewed to remove the cork, and the cap then replaced: A' hose 4| connected with a pressure sourceof water. supply is attached to the lower fitting ,replacing the plug, and the nozzle 36 isthreaded upon the cap 23, whereupon the sprayer is in condition for use. As water is allowed to'flow through the hose, and the nozzle opened to permit this water to be delivered as a pressure spray, the pressure of the water within the cancompresses thesack 3| to force the chemical through theminute discharge orifice of the chemical duct 24. into the chamber 33, whereat it mixes with-the water entering through the duct 28 and thewater and chemical become admixed and flow to and through the nozzle. As this action takesplace. and the chemical concentrate emerges underpressure from the chemical duct, the chemicalstream acts upon the colored flap 25-and sets upa noticeable vibratory action, and the operator can readily determine whether therestill remains a supply of concentrate within thesack by periodically inspecting the flap through the transparent wall of the cap. Upon depletion of thechemical, the flap is forced downwardly into closed position and the vibrational movement stops. A closing of the nozzle outlet will, of-course, also cause.the flap to close, and the flap will remain closed and the chemical be precluded from bleeding? into the chamber 33 as long as there remains within this chamber a static condition of the..pressure water. Should the .water be .turned-pff' at the faucet, and the user desire to store .the sprayer for use at alater date,.it is only.necessary -that the can'be stored upright or that ,the, cork. be; again inserted within the cap 23.

Itlis here-pointed' out as an alternativerneans of visually indicating a depletion of the-chemical supply, that a. coloring =agent may be added to the concentrate where suchaddition will not ad-. versely affectthesame Also, some water-soluble concentrates .areinherently colored. In the event of being so colored, eithernaturally or by addi-, tion of a non-active agent, the fine stream of 0011-.- centrate can be then seen quitereadily as it emergesthrough the discharge orifice from the chemical .duct 24.

It is to be noted that theinvention adapts itself to a number of uses othersthan that of spraying a water-soluble concentrate. To mention-only -a few. .examples of; such; other applications, itis entirelyieasible to usethe invention as ;a meanssof combining. syrupswith carbonated water in soda fountains, or to combine'syrupsand;plain-water for use in canneries, Also in machine shop prac: tice, the invention lends} itself, to the operationzof combining water -wi th ;water -soluble-, OilSgiHj the cutting-of metals. Irrespective of the particular usage to which the inventionis put, itonly. bee comes necessary that the openings from-the water duct and from; the chemical; be giventhe. proper. ratio. Black Leaf 40 is, fo'r example-customarily mixed at 200 to 1, whereas Creosole; and thesame istrueof a 7%. Hypochlorite solution; is customarily applied 150 to 1. Water-soluble DDT is most usually mixed at to 1, while the proportion of syrups to water is even closer. It is of course unnecessary that the machine be a portable unit, although it will be quite evident that a chemical-carrying can which may be held in the hand and to the opposite ends of which a hose and a nozzle can be attached has very distinct advantages.

From the above detailed description of the invention, it is believed that the construction and use thereof will at once be apparent. No limitations are, however, to be implied therefrom, it being my intention that all forms of construction and variations in detail coming within the scope of the hereto annexed claims are to be considered as comprehended by the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine for diluting a liquid concentrate, a pressure tank, a fitting carried by one end of the tank arranged to be connected with a pressure source of water supply for delivering pressure water to the interior of the tank, a freely compressible sack operating as a receptacle for the liquid concentrate and carried within the tank with its interior isolated from the water contained within the latter, and a fitting carried by the other end of the tank and arranged to receive a. spray head providing a mixing chamber and a spray-governing nozzle, said fitting providing ducts for the water and for the concentrate leading through said fitting to connect with the mixing chamber of the applied spray-head and having a pipe fixedly associated therewith and extending into the sack as a prolongation of the admission end of the concentrate duct, said pipe having a plurality of wall openings spaced at intervals of the length.

2. In a machine for diluting a liquid concentrate, a pressure tank, a compressible sack for the chemical received in said tank, a mixing chamber, means for supplying water from a pressure source of supply to the interior of the tank but exteriorly of the sack for compressing the latter, a hollow pipe fixedly associated with the tank and extending into the sack for every nearly the full length of the latter and provided in its wall with a plurality of openings located at spaced intervals of the length, means for supplying water from said pressure source to the mixing chamber, and means for delivering liquid concentrate subjected to the compression pressure of the compressed sack from the interior of the pipe to the mixing chamber.

3. In a machine for diluting liquid concentrate, a pressure tank formed with openings in the opposite ends, and inlet fitting for one of said openings allowing a hose leading from a pressure source of water supply to be attached thereto for supplying water under pressure to the interior of the tank, an outlet fitting for the other opening presenting an externally projecting threaded nipple and an internally projecting neck, a compressible sack suspended from the neck to lie within the tank, said outlet fitting being formed with two separated fluid-flow ducts each opening by egress ports onto the end face of the fitting and having the ingress ends fed, one said duct from the interior of the suspended sack and the other said duct from the interior of the tank but exteriorly of the suspended sack, and a cap piece removably threaded onto the nipple, said cap piece being formed with a relatively expansive recess exposed to both of said egress ports to serve as a mixing chamber for the water and concentrate fed from the latter and also having an outlet from said recess so dimensioned in relation to the flow capacities of the two ducts as to establish a back pressure within the recess.

4. The machine of claim 3 having a thin flap of flexible material attached to the end face of said nipple in overlying relation to the egress port for the concentrate to serve as a check valve for the latter.

5; The machine of claim 3 having means in said recess partitioning the same into upper and lower cells and drilled to provide a communicating constricted opening therebetween functioning to create a swirling motion within the upper said cell of mixed concentrate and water fed through said opening from the lower said cell.

CARL S. DAILEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 670,794 Lott Mar. 26, 1901 967,450 Sholes Aug. 16, 1910 1,030,119 Overbeke June 18, 1912 1,873,817 Buddenhagen Aug. 23, 1932 2,029,633 Muhleisen Feb. 4, 1936 2,034,867 Hayes Mar. 24, 1936 2,096,554 Maehr Oct. 19, 1937 2,153,240 Dailey et a1 Apr. 4, 1939 2,199,110 Metz Apr. 30, 1940 2,199,151 Dailey et al. Apr. 30, 1940 2,220,227 Gifford Nov. 5, 1940 2,227,646 Hillmann Jan. 7, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,237 Great Britain June 25, 1914 395,994

Great Britain July 27, 1933 

